During his annual State of the Union address, President Barack Obama mentioned that the Federal and Communications Commission, along with tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Sprint and Verizon, would be providing the framework needed to connect over 15,000 schools and 20 million students to high-speed Internet over the next few years. The move seems to be a part of the ConnectED initiative that the President announced back in June, which pledged to connect 99% of students to next-generation, high-speed broadband within five years, at speeds no less than 100 Mbps and with a target of 1 Gbps. The following was mentioned regarding the matter:

Last year, I also pledged to connect 99 percent of our students to high-speed broadband over the next four years. Tonight I can announce that with the support of the FCC and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, and Verizon, we've got a down payment to start connecting more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students over the next two years, without adding a dime to the deficit.

Apple also provided a statement to The Loop about its role in the ConnectED initiative, mentioning the following:

We are proud to join President Obama in this historic initiative to transform America’s schools,” Apple said in a statement provided to The Loop. “Apple has a long history in education, and we have pledged to contribute MacBooks, iPads, software and our expertise to support the ConnectED project. We look forward to announcing more details with the White House soon.

Last but not least, an accompanying fact sheet to the State of the Union address also stated that the President will announce “new philanthropic partnerships” with the tech companies mentioned throughout the coming weeks. The Cupertino California company was also mentioned during last year’s State of the Union, with the President lauding the company’s move to build Macs in America once again.